Keith Robinson

Artist Statement

I paint Tower / Office Block's for their ubiquity and banality. They are everywhere. They are at best ignored, at worst seen as eyesores. They are seldom loved. It is the visual relationship we have with them that interests me. Do I want others to notice them? Not really, I have no feelings towards them. It is their gridded structure, formed from utility, that I like as it imposes a recognisable structure to the paintings, then I can play with colour and paint application as the paintings develop. Sometimes I will refer to the time of day when I viewed the Block, sometimes I will use other artists work as colour reference, and sometimes I will create evolving colour relationships and applications within the grid.

The History Revision portraits are an attempt to re-evaluate and revise imagery of children who have been scarred by war and ideology.  These paintings are done on used painter's rags, the materials, like the images, are revised. I wanted to remove the child from ideological  association to hopefully see the child in a neutral context.

In 2021 I was the runner-up in The Scottish Portrait Awards and

I have been commissioned to do numerous portraits, notably:

- Mary Barnes O.B.E.  for Bolton Library and Museum Services (2019)

- Dr Kathryn Riddle for The University of Sheffield (2017)

- Younome - Collaboration with Professor Darren Griffin and Dr Gary Robinson at The University of Kent to produce a personalised Genome of twenty five Self Portraits. These self portraits were exhibited along the - - King's Mile in Canterbury during The Canterbury Festival 2016.

- Sir Hans Krebs for The University of Sheffield's Krebs Festival (2015)